PANAJI
In a major push to reduce dependence on imported milk, the Goa government has selected 10 villages across North and South Goa for a five-year pilot project under its recently notified Fodder Resources Development Plan.
Five villages in each district have been chosen for the Rs 1.38 crore pilot, which aims to address the chronic shortage of fodder and strengthen the State's dairy sector.
Goa currently produces only about one-third of its daily milk requirement of four lakh litres.
One of the chief reasons for the State's dairy farmers to ramp up production is the deficit in livestock feed, with officials saying nearly 50 per-cent shortages in green fodder and another 50% in dry roughage.
Additionally, the State has virtually no concentrated feed and this inadequate availability of fodder is a major constraint faced in dairy productivity, the official said.
The new plan now seeks to close this gap with a major expansion of fodder cultivation with a ten-fold increase of the area under fodder crops from less than 1,000 hectares currently to 10,000 hectares over the next five years.
The strategy also proposes utilising vacant spaces within Goa's extensive cashew and coconut plantations for fodder production.
As part of the pilot programme, the government will establish machinery hiring centres, fodder nurseries and fodder-processing facilities in the selected 10 villages.
The pilot project will also focus on restoring 1,305 hectares of degraded grazing land to create sustainable feed resources for livestock.
Implementation of the plan will be overseen by the Goa Fodder Task Force, which has been entrusted with monitoring progress and coordinating activities across departments.
The fodder initiative complements the government's broader efforts to revive the dairy sector evident from the recent relaunch of the Mukhyamantri Sudharit Kamdhenu Scheme, which provides financial assistance for the replacement and purchase of milch animals to improve livestock quality and boost local milk production.
The revised scheme is aimed at helping dairy farmers expand and modernise their herds and the twin focus on fodder security and livestock improvement is expected to strengthen dairy farming and move Goa closer to its long-term goal of milk self-sufficiency, the official said.
